Jacqueline Pearce trained at the British stage school RADA and at Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio in Los Angeles.

Whilst having appeared in dozens of films and TV shows, she is perhaps best known for her role as Servalan in the British science fiction TV series Blake's 7 (1978-1981).

Jacqueline Pearce starred in two Hammer horror films: The Plague of the Zombies and The Reptile. Other film roles include: White Mischief, How to Get Ahead in Advertising, Princess Caraboo and Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River.

As well as appearing in the BBC children's programmes Dark Season and Moondial, Jacqueline Pearce has appeared in the Doctor Who serial The Two Doctors as Chessene, a bloodthirsty alien. She has more recently been associated with Doctor Who through her appearance in The Fearmonger as Sherilyn Harper, an audio drama by Big Finish Productions, and as Admiral Mettna in the webcast story Death Comes to Time.

Pearce has also made frequent guest appearances in TV series such as: Danger Man, The Avengers, Man in a Suitcase, Public Eye, Callan, Dead of Night, Special Branch, The Zoo Gang, Spy Trap and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.